Millom School is a

coeducational Mixed-sex education, also known as mixed-gender education, co-education, or coeducation (abbreviated to co-ed or coed), is a system of education where males and females are educated together. Whereas single-sex education was more common up to ...

secondary school and

sixth form In the education systems of England, Northern Ireland, Wales, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago and some other Commonwealth countries, sixth form represents the final two years of secondary education, ages 16 to 18. Pupils typically prepare for A-l ...

located in

Millom Millom is a town and civil parish on the north shore of the estuary of the River Duddon in southwest Cumbria, historically part of Cumberland, England. It is situated just outside the Lake District National Park, about north of Barrow-in-Furnes ...

in the English county of

Cumbria Cumbria ( ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in North West England, bordering Scotland. The county and Cumbria County Council, its local government, came into existence in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972. C ...

The school today

It is a comprehensive community school administered by

Cumberland Council Cumberland Council is the local authority for Cumberland in England. It is a unitary authority, the structural change order names the new Cumberland Council as only a district council. It will operate as a shadow authority until taking up its pow ...

. There is an all weather sports pitch (not 4G) and the " Melvyn Bragg Drama Studio" which was opened in 2005. Millom School offers

GCSEs The General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) is an academic qualification in a particular subject, taken in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland. State schools in Scotland use the Scottish Qualifications Certificate instead. Private sc ...

and BTECs as programmes of study for pupils, while students in the sixth form have the option to study from a range of A-levels and further BTECs. The school's catchment area has "serious socio-economic problems due mainly to the demise of the mining industry".

Academic performance and school inspections

In 2001 the school won the National Science Challenge Award, and in 2002 a teacher at the school was awarded the BP Award for Science Year. In 2014 the school was inspected by Ofsted and judged Good. It was inspected again in 2018 and judged to Require Improvement; as of 2020 this is the most recent inspection. In 2019, pupils' progress at GCSE was average.

A level The A-Level (Advanced Level) is a subject-based qualification conferred as part of the General Certificate of Education, as well as a school leaving qualification offered by the educational bodies in the United Kingdom and the educational au ...

results in 2019 were below average.

History

The school has its roots in a Pupil-Teacher Centre, which formally became a secondary school in 1905. The school therefore celebrated its centenary in 2005. It was rebuilt in 1938, and at that point

grammar school A grammar school is one of several different types of school in the history of education in the United Kingdom and other English-speaking countries, originally a school teaching Latin, but more recently an academically oriented secondary school ...

provision was added. The school at this time was known as Millom County Secondary School, and was co-educational

. In 1950 the headteacher noted the "local tendency to despise study and to the consequent difficulty of the school-master in getting any sound homework done", especially because of the long journeys some children had to school. The technical side of the school included a Commercial School teaching secretarial skills. The school in its current format was opened by Princess Alexandra in 1959. The school comprises three main teaching blocks with a few specialist classrooms to one side for practical lessons. The three blocks, originally called Lower, Middle and Upper Schools, are now referred as Lonsdale Building, Muncaster Building and Ulpha Building. Since 1983, several specialist classrooms have been repurposed, losing woodworking and metalwork rooms, a typing room and a technical drawing room. The swimming pool (left to decay until unviable by Cumbria County Council) remains as dug. The Alexandra Hall, named after Princess Alexandra, is the school's main hall. The 'Melvyn Bragg' studio was added to the rear of the 'Alex Hall' in 2005 as a performing arts educational space. The 'Ulpha Building' was extended as 'Millom Network Centre', later changing name to Millom Hub, offering space to external organisations. It has been relocated to Millom Work and Skills Centre in the Devonshire Road Industrial Estate. In 2019 the local authority took over responsibility for the network centre, and there were concerns about its future.

Notable former pupils

* Cliff Addison, chemist *

Norman Nicholson Norman Cornthwaite Nicholson (8 January 1914 – 30 May 1987) was an English poet associated with the Cumbrian town of Millom. His poetry is noted for local concerns, straightforward language, and elements of common speech. Although known chief ...

, poet * John Satterthwaite, bishop

References

External links

Millom School official websiteSchool pictures from 1927Records at the National Archives
{{authority control Secondary schools in Cumberland (unitary authority) Educational institutions established in 1959 1959 establishments in England Community schools in Cumberland (unitary authority) Millom